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Thursday, February 28, 2013

I am a feminist. I've said it before. I've also previously mentioned that I am a liberal, a mother, a Methodist, a sister, a terrible housekeeper, a wife, a writer, a red wine lover and a Sunday school teacher among other things.

Nothing says "feminist" more than this picture.

Sometimes I am full of conviction and know exactly how I feel about a certain issue. Other times I am full of confliction. "I can't wait to get my ears pierced this weekend," Lucy announced at dinner the other night. She is turning 9 at the end of the week and getting her ears pierced is high on her wish list. "When can I get my ears pierced," JT, my 6-year-old son asked.Hmmmm. Confliction. I don't know how to explain why he can't. Why can't he?My husband told him that boys can't, they just can't."I'm not sure why in our society it seems more okay for little girls to have earrings and not for little boys, but if you feel really strongly about getting your ears pierced when you are a teenager we can revisit that," I said.My husband shot me a look that said "oh great, I knew that hippy side of you that I thought was sooo cool when we dated would come back to haunt me."Then the dinner conversation led to tattoos and more talk of how "I don't regret getting mine and if you want to express yourselves through body art when you are adults and can pay for it, we'll love you no matter what." I thought my husband was going to choke on his dinner.But really! As a parent, I feel confliction. Aside from all the societal oddities of what is accepted and what's not, I feel like a hypocrite. One because I have a tattoo and I have my ears pierced so how can I talk about not getting them when they are older? And deep down I don't want Lucy to get her ears pierced or JT to get tattoos. Either I've been married too long to a conservative husband or I indeed have my own inner old, conservative lady showing herself.I feel the same way about music. I love pop music. I love swearing. I love swearing in pop music. But I don't love my kids hearing it. And why is it okay to say "bitch" on the radio but not "ass." And what about movies? And television? all things that fall under the technology category? advertising? Oh Jesus, my confliction knows no end.Maybe the world is getting scarier and my convictions are becoming conflictions because my kids are getting older. They are paying attention more, asking more questions and it freaks me the f@*& out.I'm still all those things that I mentioned previously, but just add slightly conservative and anxious tween parent to the list.I linked up with MamaKat's Vlogging prompts again to discuss some hot topics. My hot topics involve my feminist confliction/reaction about Seth MacFarlane's boob song at the Oscars and the hideous new Skecher's shoes for girls and teens called "Daddy's Money." Yeah, here's my confliction about that.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

A year ago, I went to a blog conference, BlissDom, my first blog conference. Wearing a long sweater over a black shirt and dark jeans, I made my way into the ballroom of the hotel. I was a very new blogger and felt like I had no business being there. I knew no one. I was nervous, insecure. I felt invisible. I felt very grey.Before the conference began there was a market where bloggers/crafters/artists had merchandise for sale. I silently walked through the aisles watching the creative, fabulous women shining brightly with confidence behind their tables. Then I came across a colorful table full of flower pins, belts, bags and more. I recognized the items and remembered seeing them on a blog. In a bold move, I bought a flower belt and two flower pins. I quietly asked the very nice woman behind the table how to wear the belt and she gave me some tips.Little did I know, that blog, that woman and that belt would change my life.It was Lindsey Cheney from the pleated poppy. Yeah, that Lindsey and her amazing blog I link up with for What I Wore Wednesday(wiww).

WIWW link up was started by blogger/business woman extraordinaire, Lindsey, as a "fun way for us to encourage each other to simply get dressed each day, and get out of our pj’s or yoga pants."

I put on the flower belt and wore it all weekend. I came back home to metro Detroit and wore it some more.

I added the flower pins to my black shirts and dresses. Then I started getting bolder, wearing a bright green sweater with a purple flower pin for example. I started linking up with WIWW and sharing my color journey. That led to a fun vote where readers helped decide what I should wear to my 20th high school reunion (and define snappy casual) and a post where I conquered my fear of skinny jeans (orange/red jeans!). The comments and support and interaction were so encouraging. It's been a year since I went to BlissDom, met Lindsey, bought the belt and started my adventure with color. Here's what I know, I am now a full blown rainbow of self-expression.

I'm not only not afraid to wear color, but I'm mixing colors and patterns too. I'm stacking bracelets, wearing the hoop earrings, adding a hot pink scarf and having so. much. fun.

Again with the purple, "rock star super skinny jeans" from Old Navy. Striped shirt clearance rack at Target a couple years ago. Polka dot cardi from the 80% off rack at Kohls last week, it's my new favorite piece and only cost $10.

I feel braver, freer. I don't have to wait until I'm old to wear purple like the poem/book says, damn it I'm wearing it now. "You're so...colorful," someone told me the other day. "Thank you," I replied proudly (but I'm not sure if it was meant to be a compliment and that's okay). As I count down to my next BlissDom (three weeks!), I know my suitcase will be different from last year's, because I am different from last year. I am more confident, self-assured, self-aware, less afraid, less grey. It's not just my clothes, it's my writing, my relationships, my parenting--they are all more authentic, more colorful. And it all started with the belt.In honor of the anniversary of THE belt and my journey of color and self-expression, I'm giving away a $25 gift certificate to the pleated poppy shop.

Lindsey has so many colorful, fabulous items in her store like these for example:

the infinity scarf for $21

the super cute reusable tote bag for $17

the tiny pouch with turquoise chevron for only $16

Check out her store!Leave a comment about what makes your life colorful and/or what risks you've taken and/or changes you've made in the last year. A winner (chosen by using random.org) will be announced Friday, March 1.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

It's time again for the Pinterest Poser Challenge. In an attempt at not being a Pinterest Poser,* every week I detail a new Pinterest challenge whether it be a new recipe or a craft.

**My definition of a Pinterest Poser is someone who is all pins and no substance.**

This week's project is inspired by a pin I saw several months ago about interviewing your child. Well, really it was inspired years before that. When I was little I used to love to listen to my grandmother tell me stories. Stories about her life before she married my grandfather and after. Stories in her words, with her sweet voice. I always wanted to tape record her (yeah, because I'm that old that we recorded people on clunky tape recorders and kept the cassettes forever). I never did. I always regretted it.I vowed never to make the same mistake with my children. I vowed to take video of their lives, document the big moments and remember them forever. And honestly, I've done a pretty good job with the big moments---we have video of the recitals, home runs, first time with no training wheels and more. But I don't have many simple moments or conversations.

That's where this week's challenge comes into play, I love the idea of doing Kid Interviews. Here's how it went:Tips for a good interview:1. Go with the flow.2. Let your kid talk about what they want to talk about.3. Don't force it, if they aren't feeling it do the interview at another time.4. Ask them to describe a specific event, TV show, memory. Encourage lots of description. I love the way my kids re-tell a movie and how they interpret the meanings.5. Do the interview around a birthday or holiday. The kids can reflect on their favorite moments or what they are looking forward to in the future. 6. Enjoy it! You might learn something about how your child is feeling or how they see the world. And it's great one-on-one time together.7. Keep it simple. You don't have to edit it with graphics and music. All you need is a camera (even the one in your phone) and five minutes---boom, you're done. 8. Remember your audience...Your Family. This isn't going to be voted on by the Academy, it doesn't have to be posted on Facebook (unless you want to because that's totally okay too, no judgement here dude), this is for you and your family. The Kid Interview is definitely something my family will continue. It is a way to document their thoughts and feelings. It's a way to capture their sweet mannerisms and voices. I don't want to forget hearing my toddler Wade call his siblings "the kids." I want Lucy to be able to see the confident, hopeful, sweet almost 9-year-old on the verge of "double digits" and getting her ears pierced little girl she is/was. I want these memories captured forever for me and my kids, and ahem, their kids. It's part of our/their story. Do it, go interview your kid. It's good stuff, I promise.

Have you made something from Pinterest lately?

Do tell.

Please share whatever you're working on in the comments here or over on Facebook.Come on over and follow my Pinterest boards.

Here are some of the projects I've already attempted, the good and the bad:

Monday, February 25, 2013

Sometimes I can't believe I'm so old.I see the "where are they now" slide shows on HuffingtonPost or TMZ and nothing makes you feel older than seeing a greying cast of 90210. Or when I notice the list of celebrities in their 50s and Sheryl Crow is on the list. What? Or when I get excited about an issue of MORE magazine that yes, I now subscribe to, comes in the mail.It's such a weird age this late 30s almost 40...old but still young. Old enough to really understand the importance of sleep and comfortable pants, but young enough to want to shop at Forever 21; old enough to have real experience and wisdom, but young enough to feel like I don't know anything and need someone older to be in charge sometimes.Don't Call It A Syndrome"Maybe I'm too old. Am I too old to try and be a writer?," I cried to Tim when I called him one disastrous morning after dropping the kids off at school. Aforemetnioned morning went something like this (after staying up way late working on a project that I was actually getting paid for):Exhausted-ly making lunches for the kiddos and trying to get them ready for school, editing a writing piece that I had to send to a sponsor, picking the toddler up after he fell, calling the school to let them know one of my kids had Strep and wouldn't be there, tripping over the mess in the living room, misspelling a word in a Facebook status update to promote a blog post, burning the bacon....feeling like I was failing at everything. I mean come on, who burns bacon?My super supportive husband reassured me that I wasn't too old for a lot of things and that I needed to be patient with life. He went on to tell me things I knew like no one can do everything all at once, there will be time to do the things I want, be patient, I'm mostly just tired from lack of sleep not being old and a lot of people burn bacon. Okay I totally didn't know a lot of people burn bacon and I think he was lying to make me feel better. And it did.When I was graduating from college with a degree in communications and a heart full of hope, someone (an older, wiser mentor) told me that we all have to get over our dreams. She said we have to come to the realization that we aren't going to be on Broadway and get on with our life. She called it the "Broadway Dancer Syndrome." "It's called being realistic and practical," she lectured.Now, that I'm almost 40, you know what I think of her syndrome? I think it's crap. I get the fact that we can't all be dancers on Broadway, but why can't we have dreams, bucket lists, crazy sounding aspirations and goals?Now, that I'm almost 40, I find every late-in-life-discovery story inspiring. Ray Ramano recently told the story (at the Kennedy Center Honors, not to me personally) of how he was a stand up comic working the circuit and after doing David Letterman's show got the call. The call that offered him a TV show and changed his life. He was 38, married with three kids, living in Brooklyn. Julia Child didn't write her first cookbook until she was almost 50! Or what about the Grandma Moses story--after she turned 76, Moses began painting after arthritis rendered her fingers unable to do embroidering, her usual artistic outlet. A collector noticed the paintings at a store near her home and, as the story goes, bought them all, then traveled to her home and bought the rest. The next year, the grandmother's work was on display in the Museum of Modern Art.

I'm not going for world domination, I just want to write and make a few bucks. Okay, and someday I want to be a background singer/dancer or tambourine player for a band and run the New York City marathon. Don't tell me I'm too old. Don't tell me it can't happen. Don't tell me it's a syndrome.

Art In The EverydayA million years ago, I was a student in London, England. On my own, half-way around the world at age 20 was a pretty thrilling feeling. Discovering the world, discovering myself. My art history professor was an amazing older British woman with a high-pitched voice that was a cross between Julia Child and Dame Edna. As we toured the great museums of London looking at the art, she would give her own critiques such as "well, this lad must have been completely pissed when he painted this" with a hearty laugh (pissed=drunk in British slang, not mad painters, drunk painters, hahaha).One day while we were at the National Museum, she spoke very seriously about traveling and adventure. "Life will send you in many different directions and paths, but I believe you'll be back," she said. "Once you get the adventure bug, it never leaves you."As she spoke, I nodded, fully confident that I would be backpacking through the rest of Europe the next year and then settling in New York city with an amazing writing gig after college. Well, of course, the directions and paths of my life took me on a different route. Not quite as glamorous, but definitely full of everyday adventure and fun.

This weekend I found a poster of a Van Gogh I bought in London all those years ago. We decided to hang it on the staircase wall so the kids could be greeted by art every morning as they came down for breakfast and encourage them to find art and adventure in their everyday.

My professor was right, I will be back, it might be London via Epcot but it will be an adventure. Just because I'm getting older doesn't mean it's over--the adventures or the dreams. Now it also means I get to share them with my children and show them they too can dream, pursue their passions big and small and find their own adventures.

InspirationThis whole ride down memory lane was inspired by my friend Caitlyn Kuskowski. She works at the play center where Wade goes to chill with his toddler friends. Caitlyn is 18, wide-eyed and excited. She is about to embark on a grand adventure of her own and it's so much more than touring art museums in England. Caitlyn is traveling to Thailand to volunteer and work with people that live in the hill tribe communities and with refugees. She'll be building community and classrooms, teaching people about healthy lifestyles and sustainability and so much more.In this world of entitled teenagers and twenty-somethings, as a much older woman (her elder really), I find Caitlyn so inspiring and reassuring. She is a college student who works several jobs and is raising money to go on her trip. Good kids with big dreams and a crazy great work ethic do exist. I feel good knowing her. She inspires my memories of dreams I used to have and still do have (I told you I'm not too old). She is also an inspiring example of what I want for my own kids and the adventures they will have and the good they will do in the world. If you'd like to learn more about Caitlyn's story or want to donate money to help her on her adventure click here.

Friday, February 22, 2013

I'm confused, I don't know what day it is. No, it's not all the drinking I've done lately. It's just been a wacky week that started with the kids having a winter break from school on Monday and Tuesday, a sick kid home from school the other days, a husband out of town-- which can all lead to I-don't-know-what-day-it-is-itis. Symptoms include confusion, exhaustion, mild irritability and anxiety, finding ridiculous things funnier than normal, losing car keys, craving comfort food. I know it sounds a lot like PMS, it's very similar. My kids have been a little out of whack too. Not in a bad way. They've actually been getting along better than normal. (That didn't help with my confusion symptom.) My little boys have hung out all week.

They even ended up sleeping together like a couple of puppies.

I really don't know much this week except that I think it's almost the weekend and that means nothing because I'm a mom and Saturday is just another day, duh. But I am extremely grateful for cute puppy/children that get along on long winter days inside, that I truly know for sure (this week).

Here's what else I know for sure (this week):

Spontaneous moments of getting along need to be photographed and documented. Here are Lucy and JT just hanging out playing the iPad. I usually hate electronics, but if the iPad can make this happen more often, I think I love it.

Haters are gonna hate, but I love Beyonce. And I love her more after watching her documentary on HBO. I was moved. Yup.

Fake mustaches from the dollar store are priceless. We enjoyed the heck out of wearing these all week. Lucy even wore one to school for fun.

I'm watching the Oscars on Sunday night (and live Tweeting, come play @AngelaYBlood). I love movies, movie making, story telling, all of it. My fingers are crossed that the speeches will be good and the host will be funny.

Yeah, there's an app for that. An Oscar App, I'm not kidding. Check it out.

Sometimes the shows my tweens like are funny, sometimes. The older my kids get, I am finding their choice in TV shows more obnoxious. (I miss Playhouse Disney, which is now Disney Junior, which Wade still loves.) The other day Lucy and Peyton called me into the living room to watch a show on Cartoon Network and I laughed, it was pretty funny. Even if they made the mom look totally dorky in the video.

The Harlem Shake is overdone and let's face it, weird. You know the Harlem Shake right? The crazy video EVERYONE was making the last couple weeks on YouTube. To be totally honest, the only reason I didn't make one is because my family refused to do it with me. Whomp. Whomp. Here's my all-time favorite version.

Join the Instagram party and come follow me. I finally figured out how to tag people.

What do you know for sure (this week)? C'mon, we're friends, share what you know. Leave a comment here or on the Facebook page.

I'm linking up today with my friend Greta from Gfunkified.com and Sarahs atSundaySpill.comfor the #iPPP link up. They host a link up where they encourage people to share "your funny, your yummy, your heartfelt, your favorite photos of the week" from our phones.